Bears pull off big upset on road that’s full of irony

SAN MARCOS, TEXAS — The University of Northern Colorado football team may have come up with something no doctor, no psychologist or spiritual leader could have in helping heal a wound that has festered for six days.

The prescription for all of the Bears’ aches and pains was a 14-13 victory over No. 23-ranked Texas State University Saturday night at Jim Wacker Field at Bobcat Stadium.

“This team sticks together as a family, through adversity and helps each other out,” UNC first-year head coach Scott Downing said after the Bears’ first victory of the season before 11,870 fans.

UNC’s victory improves the Bears’ overall record to 1-2, and snaps a 12-game road losing streak. Texas State, which plays in the Southland Conference, is 1-2.

The Bears’ most publicized adversity is the absence of starting punter Rafael Mendoza, who was allegedly stabbed by former teammate Mitch Cozad last week, and will miss at least one more game.

“We mentioned Rafael several times tonight,” Downing said. “We mentioned him in our pregame prayer and in our postgame prayer. He’s a guy who is very close to our hearts.”

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UNC defensive lineman Matt West’s heart was pounding hard when he scooped up a blocked punt with seven seconds left in the first half and rambled for a touchdown, which proved to be the winning score.

“That was all Vinny Pallone and Jake Carlson,” said West, referring to the only two Bears who rushed on the play and pushed back TSU’s blockers into Chris McDonald’s punt.

“They both told me before the play that they were going to block the punt.”

Downing indicated that Pallone ran to the sidelines, yelling, “that was my punt block, and I told him okay, great job.”

Texas State head coach David Bailiff viewed the play as one of “numerous mistakes that have to be eliminated,” adding, “Our guys have to push back. They only brought two guys on that play.”

The Bears only needed to bring 221 yards of total offense to the road to put a happy ending to what has been a tumultuous week.

“We’re a family, and we help each other,” said West, who didn’t recall scoring a touchdown since he was in high school.

The Bears’ other score came on their first possession, marching 80 yard in eight plays with quarterback Dominic Breazeale hitting tailback Patrick Ealy with a 30-yard touchdown.

“We knew we were going to have some growing pains this season,” Texas State head coach David Bailiff said. “We started slow, and that’s my fault for not preparing these players properly to win. It starts with me. I think we picked it up as the game went on. Northern Colorado is a team that came in here with a purpose.

“They’re a very talented football team with a first-year head coach.”

The Bears utilized their opportunities for the two first-half scores, then limited the Bobcats to two field goals by Kyle Bronson after they went 76 yards in two plays for their only touchdown — a 3-yard run by James Aston — on their first possession of the second half.

The Bobcats best opportunity for a touchdown ended on the UNC 3 when running back Stan Zwinggi fumbled and UNC’s Matt Thomas recovered.

“Mistakes,” Bailiff reiterated. “At the half we talked about our mistakes, how self-defeating they were and how we needed to take the football game over.

“We had a lot of yards in the second half, but didn’t score enough points.”

The Bobcats had 285 second-half yards, but just 13 points to show for it. UNC had just 58 yards of offense in the second half.

“It’s unfortunate — what happened to their punter this week, but we were thinking about what we needed to do to win,” said TSU wide receiver Morris Crosby, who had five catches for 160 yards. “We need to get the ball in the end zone.”

UNC defensive back Aaron Henderson wasn’t overly concerned about the number of yards the Bears surrendered as much as he was the final score.

“Look at that scoreboard — we won,” Henderson said. “I haven’t won a road game since I was in high school. This one was definitely for Rafael (Mendoza) and for Coach Downing. He has the heart of a champion and has helped us through some tough times.”

Downing explained that his squad had just one goal coming into the game. Play hard.

“I want the players to savor this for about 24 hours, and then we’ll start getting ready for Western Illinois next weekend,” Downing said. “The situation this week has pulled our team closer together. This win is huge for us, and will pay huge dividends in the future.”